1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an ion-generating component, and more particularly, to an ion-generating component used in a negative-ion generating circuit of an air cleaner or an air conditioner, and an ion-generating unit and an ion-generating apparatus including the ion-generating component.
2. Description of the Related Art
This type of ion-generating apparatus is disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 6-181087. FIG. 8 shows the ion-generating apparatus. As shown in FIG. 8, an ion-generating apparatus 110 includes a housing 120, a discharging electrode 112 mounted on the front surface of the housing 120, and a counter electrode 114. A high-voltage power supply 118 is disposed at the top of the housing 120. The high-voltage power supply 118 includes a high-voltage generating circuit that applies a high alternating voltage between the discharging electrode 112 and the counter electrode 114.
The discharging electrode 112 has a plurality of sawteeth 112a, and is disposed perpendicularly to the counter electrode 114. The counter electrode 114 is fixed to a bottom portion 120b of the housing 120, and has a structure in which metal is embedded in a dielectric ceramic material. The discharging electrode 112 and the counter electrode 114 act to generate ozone by discharging and to convert air into negative ions by the application of a high alternating voltage.
However, in the known ion-generating apparatus 110, a high voltage of −5 kV to −7 kV must be applied to the discharging electrode 112 in order to generate negative ions. For this reason, the power supply circuit and the insulating structure are complicated, and the production cost of the ion-generating apparatus 110 is increased.
Furthermore, when a high voltage of −5 kV to −7 kV is applied to the discharging electrode 112, ozone is incidentally generated, and therefore, it is impossible to selectively generate only negative ions. Moreover, since a high voltage is applied to the discharging electrode 112, there is a need to take sufficient safety measures.
In addition, since the discharging electrode 112 and the counter electrode 114 perpendicularly oppose each other (arranged three-dimensionally), the occupied volume is large, and size reduction of the ion-generating apparatus 110 is difficult.